Points of Light Institute is now welcoming nominations for the 2010 Corporate Engagement Awards of Excellence. These CEAE awards honor U.S. companies that have committed to and built strong, effective employee volunteer programs that meet the Principles of Excellence for Workplace volunteering.

A key part of the mission of Points of Light Institute is to encourage business leaders to create a company culture that inspires and enables employees to volunteer in the communities where they live and work. In the last decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in the commitment that companies are making to local communities. There is growing recognition that citizen engagement is essential to building strong communities, and business leaders understand that what is good for the community is good for their companies and employees.

The Principles of Excellence for Workplace Volunteering are to:

• Acknowledge that the workplace's employee volunteer efforts contribute to the achievement of the company's business goals;


• Commit to establish, support and promote an employee volunteer program that encourages the involvement of every employee and to treat it as any core business function;


• Target workplace volunteering towards serious social problems in the community.

Nominees are judged based on adherence to these principles, which are the benchmarks for the CEAE program. Last year's winners included Capital One Financial Corporation, Deloitte LLP, Eli Lilly and Company, Pinnacol Assurance, and Salesforce.com.

Nominations must be submitted by April 9th, 2010. For more information on the award and the nomination form, please visit www.pointsoflight.org/recognition/corpaward, or contact Melanie Stevenson at mstevenson@pointsoflight.org, 404-574-5378.

The 2010 CEAE Award winners will be announced in early May. The awards will be presented to the honored companies during the annual National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the non-profit, government and corporate sectors. That conference will take place in New York City in late June. Award recipients will also be showcased throughout the year by Points of Light Institute.

Points of Light Institute inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. The Institute has a global focus to redefine volunteerism and civic engagement for the 21st century, putting people at the center of community problem-solving. We are organized to innovate, incubate and activate new ideas that help people act upon their power to make a difference. Points of Light Institute operates three dynamic business units that share our mission: HandsOn Network, MissionFish and the Civic Incubator.

Points of Light

Points of Light

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million volunteers in 16.7 million hours of service each year, contributing $498.7 million of value in people power into communities around the world. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most. To learn more about Points of Light visit pointsoflight.org. 

Partnering with Points of Light means you’ll have the expertise and support you need to mobilize your colleagues and create community impact using all aspects of civic engagement. We've helped companies with a variety of needs including implementing large-scale employee volunteer events, tackling your larger social impact vision, expanding how you engage communities and consumers, infusing new ideas to your annual employee engagement programs, connecting with peers to bring the latest and greatest ideas on impact measurement, and getting company leadership investment and buy-in. Learn more today.

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